Gustave Frohman (c. 1854 – August 16, 1930) was a theatre producer and advance man. He was one of three

Frohman brothers The Frohman brothers were American theatre owners, including on Broadway, and theatrical producers who also owned and operated motion picture production companies. The brothers were: * Daniel Frohman (1851–1940) * Gustave Frohman (1854–1930) ...

who entered show business and he worked for most of his career alongside his brother,

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Frohman produced over 700 shows, and among his biggest hits was '' Peter Pan'', both ...

. These two financed a number of theatre productions, often featuring African American actors. For instance, in 1878, they starred

Sam Lucas Sam Lucas (August 7, 1840 – January 10, 1916) was an American actor, comedian, singer and songwriter. His birth year has also been reported as 1839, 1841, 1848 and 1850. Lucas' career began in blackface minstrelsy, but he later became one of ...

in the first serious stage production of ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'' with a black man in the lead role.

Biography

Frohman was born to a Jewish family in

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( west) and Cleveland ( east). At the 2020 United Stat ...

. He saw his greatest success in

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

minstrelsy. In 1881, he and his brother bought Callender's Consolidated Colored Minstrels, a small African-American troupe, from

Charles Callender Charles Callender was the owner of blackface minstrel troupes that featured African-American performers. Although a tavern owner by trade, he entered show business in 1872, when he purchased Sam Hague's Slave Troupe of Georgia Minstrels. Renami ...

. They kept the valuable Callender's name but focused on ornamenting their sets and costumes; the troupe eventually became the most lavishly produced black troupe in the world. Their success was so great that by 1882 the Frohmans were able to buy

J. H. Haverly Christopher Haverly (June 30,1837– September 27,1901), better known as J. H. Haverly or John H. "Jack" Haverly, was an American theatre manager and promoter (entertainment), promoter of blackface minstrel shows. During the 1870s and 1880s, he c ...

's Genuine Colored Minstrels and merge it with theirs. The new troupe's size was so big and the Frohmans' grasp on the market so tight that Gustave and Charles Frohman split the troupe into three so as to allow them to tour more widely. In 1915, the three Frohman brothers created The Frohman Amusement Corp. as a motion picture production company but Charles died a few months later in the sinking of the

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' was a United Kingdom, British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906. The Royal Mail Ship, the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her sister three months later, in 1907 regained for Britain the ...

. Gustave and Daniel assumed control of the theatre operations plus ran the film production company until 1920.

Personal life

Frohman was married to a former actress, Marie Hubert (1858-1939) a daughter of architect Philip Gengembre Hubert and Cornelia Doisy. Gustave and Marie had at least three children, Gustave Jr. who died at three;

Philip Hubert Frohman Philip Hubert Frohman (November 16, 1887 – October 30, 1972) was an American architect who is most widely known for his work on the Washington National Cathedral, named, the "Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul" in Washington, D.C. He ...

, an architect who designed the

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...

; and Louis Henry Frohman. He died in New York City in 1930.

References

* Toll, Robert C. (1974). ''Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-century America''. New York: Oxford University Press. * Watkins, Mel (1994). ''On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and Signifying—The Underground Tradition of African-American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor''. New York: Simon & Schuster.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frohman, Gustave 1850s births 1930 deaths American Jews American theatre managers and producers Blackface minstrel managers and producers Frohman family